From WRIL The Big One - Shawn Tigue - KCDC Police report that a man arrested in June of 2025 for child abuse offenses has been taken into custody once again. According to the citation from Knox County Deputy David Dunn, 45-year old Shawn Tigue was arrested after he fled from them when they responded to a domestic violence call at a Sturgist Street address in Flat Lick on March 29th. Law enforcement responded to the victim's call of Tigue destroying her house and trying to fi

From WRIL - The Big One - On Monday March 16, 2026, a motion to dismiss charges against Loren Gage and Dakota Spencer in connection with the death of their child was filed in Bell Circuit Court.   As we previously reported, on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, the Middlesboro Police Department, along with Middlesboro Fire/EMS, was dispatched to a Middlesboro residence in reference to an unresponsive 17-month-old child.   Upon first responders’ arrival, life-saving measures were admin

From WRIL The Big One - James Otis Venable - CCJ Early Saturday morning March 21, 2026, in the 9:00 hour, the Tennessee Highway Patrol responded to a call of a crash at the intersection of Highway 25E and Highway 63 finding a white pickup truck that had rear-ended an SUV. The driver of the pickup truck was identified as 35-year-old James Otis Venable of Tazewell, Tn., a detective with the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Department. Trooper Roberts stated in the preliminary traffic

From the Bell County Ky. Sheriff's Department - Monday, March 16, 2026, Bell County Deputy Keith Fuson was dispatched to a location on Highway 66 near Belcher Road after a call of stolen phone lines in Baxter, Ky. Upon arriving at Belcher Road, Deputy Fuson saw a dark blue Chevy Equinox parked at Belcher Lane with a man, identified as 54- year-old Tommy Lewis of Pineville, sitting in the driver's seat. Another man, identified as 43-year-old Patrick Cross of Harlan, was standi

From WRIL - The Big One - Bethany L. Miracle A woman arrested in January by Middlesboro Lt./Detective Barry Cowan for trafficking Methamphetamine was in Bell County Circuit for a probation violation hearing and arraignment on a serious new charge on Thursday March 19th. As we previously reported, 31-year-old Bethany L. Miracle of Middlesboro was arrested on January 28th charged with trafficking in a controlled substance (Methamphetamine) after Middlesboro Police executed a s

From WRIL - The Big One Wade Hughett A Bell County man charged in the death of his brother in 2020, was sentenced in Circuit Court Thursday, March 19, 2026. As we previously reported, on Thursday, April 30, 2020, Bell County Dispatch received a call from Middlesboro Fire/EMS in regard to a severely injured male found in a residence in the Beans Fork community after they had responded to a medical call. The focus of the investigation was the assault of 56 year old Ward Hughet

From WRIL - The Big One - Five people have been charged with drug trafficking, official misconduct including engaging in organized crime at the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex. Kentucky State Police and the HIDTA Gateway Area Drug Task Force, arrested five people on twenty-two charges Septemper 7, 2025, the facility contacted KSP which began a joint investigation into suspected drug trafficking, money laundering, promoting contraband and organized criminal activity. It

From The Bell County Sheriff's Department and Pineville Police Department - On Tuesday, March 3, 2026, Chief Brandon Hollingsworth attempted a traffic stop on 40-year-old James Eric Brock of Pineville, Ky., for outstanding warrants, but he fled apprehension. During a joint investigation between Bell County Sheriff’s Detective Hunter Luttrell and Chief Hollingsworth, a search warrant was obtained for a residence to apprehend Brock.   On Thursday, March 12, 2026, the joint oper

From the Knox County Ky Sheriff's Department - Preston Messer - KCDC Knox County Sgt. Jesse Smith has presented evidence to the Knox County Grand Jury, which has returned a true bill on February 27, 2026, on 44-year-old Preston Messer of Corbin, Ky. The indictment warrant stems from an investigation regarding multiple incidents recently coming to light, alleged to have taken place in 2020. Sgt. Smith arrested and charged Messer on March 4th with Rape- 1 st  degree, Sexual Abu

From The Bell County Ky Sheriff's Department - Virgil Brock - BCDC On Wednesday, March 4, 2026, at approximately 5:00pm Bell County Deputies Samson Churchwell and K-9 Keith Fuson were conducting a pre-approved traffic safety checkpoint at the junction of Ky-2014 and 2015. The deputies were approached by a black sports bike which stopped in the middle of the road and made an illegal U-turn fleeing at a high rate of speed.  The man was later identified as 41-year-old Virgil Bro

From the Bell County Ky Sheriff's Department - On Tuesday, March 3, 2026, Bell County Deputies led by Detective Hunter Luttrell executed a search warrant at a Nuckles Lane residence in Pineville. During the search, a white Chevrolet Trax, occupied by 54-year-old Walter Howard and 49-year-old Jennifer Taylor, was seen leaving the residence's driveway. The vehicle was stopped, and K-9 Steve was deployed to conduct an open-air sniff, which positively alerted. Found was a bag of

From WRIL The Big One - As we previously reported, there was a two-vehicle accident with serious injuries on Highway 63 at the intersection of Ausmus lane in Speedwell on Sunday evening March 1st, a short time after 5:30pm. At least one person was trapped in one of the two vehicles and had to be extricated. The Tennessee Highway Patrol preliminary report determined that a 2010 Camry was traveling west on Highway 63 when the driver failed to maintain the lane. The vehicle th

From the US Dept of Justice, London, Ky. - A Kentucky woman, 31-year-old Raven Broughton-Jones of Barbourville, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert Wier to 25 years in prison for the production of child pornography.  According to her plea agreement, on January 5, 2024, Broughton-Jones used a minor victim to engage in sexually explicit conduct - which Broughton-Jones herself participated in - for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of the conduct.  Under federa

From WRIL The Big One - Clifford Hall - BCDC On Saturday, February 14, 2026, Middlesboro Police Sgt. Bucky Harris responded to a call at a Winchester Avenue address about a package at the residence's doorstep.  The package was a candy bar wrapped with a note that read "Happy Valentine's Day." The woman at the home told Sgt. Harris that she had an active Emergency Protective Order on 56-year-old Clifford Hall of Middlesboro, and she believed the package was from him. After tak

From the US Marshal Service - John Madden On Thursday, February 12, 2026, at approximately 8:00am, the United States Marshals Service (USMS) Eastern District of Kentucky (E/KY) Central Kentucky Fugitive Task Force (CKFTF) London & Lexington Offices, along with Harlan County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO), Kentucky State Police (KSP) –  Post 10 (Harlan), Bell County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO), KSP Drug Enforcement & Special Investigations (DESI) Unit, Appalachia High Intensity Drug Traf

From the US Marshal Service - John Brandon Gray On Friday, February 13, 2026, at approximately 10:00am the United States Marshals Service (USMS) Eastern District of Kentucky (E/KY) Central Kentucky Fugitive Task Force (CKFTF) London Office, along with Bell County (KY) Sheriff’s Office (BCSO), USMS Eastern District of Tennessee (E/TN) Smokey Mountain Fugitive Task Force (SMFTF) Knoxville Office, and Blount County (TN) Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) SWAT & K9 Units conducted an enforc

From the Bell County Ky Sheriff's Department - Taylor C. Dehart Detective Hunter Lutrell presented evidence to the Bell County Grand Jury, which returned a true bill on February 6, 2026, indicting 35-year-old Taylor C. Dehart. The single count indictment charges Dehart with Fetal Homicide in the 1st degree by intentionally causing the death of an unborn child by repeatedly physically abusing the pregnant mother, inflicting blunt force trauma to her abdomen, and placental abdo

From The Bell County Ky Sheriff's Department - Caleb Chase Day As a part of an ongoing investigation into the theft and cashing of a payroll check belonging to a Bell County Ambulance Service employee, a second person has been arrested and charged in connection with the incident. A warrant was issued by the Bell County Sheriff's Office after an investigation initiated by the Bell County Fiscal Court for a co-defendant of Emily Long, 23-year-old Caleb Chase Day of Wallins Cree

From The Bell County Sheriff's Department - Emily Rayne Long On February 13, 2026, Detective Hunter Luttrell of the Bell County Sheriff's Office, along with K-9 Deputy Keith Fuson and Sgt. Cody Bargo from the Harlan County Sheriff's Office, arrested 24-year-old Emily Rayne Long, an EMT with the Bell County EMS, for stealing a payroll check worth $1,128.05 on January 30, 2026. An investigation was initiated by the Bell County Fiscal Court and Sheriff's Department after confirm

From WRIL The Big One - Travis Seals - BCDC Early Thursday morning February 12 th Middlesboro Police responded to multiple complaints of damage to local businesses near the Village Square Shopping Center.  The first was at Ace Hardware where video surveillance showed an individual, later identified as 32-year-old Travis Seals, ramming a shopping cart into the front sliding door, breaking the glass. Also found was damage to two mowers and other products sitting at the front of